ṣalpu

Akkadian noun

Last edited: 2024-07-15
Primary meaning position where half a distance is reached
Variants
ṣal-pi ṣalpi
Edited by
position where half a distance is reached astronomical term, mathematical term

Attested in several procedure texts in which Jupiter's motion is computed using a trapezoidal figure. It seems to denote the position where the planet has covered half a given distance.

(7') ṣal-pi ina KASKAL-šu₂ ina ŠA₃-šu₂ (erasure?) SE₃.AM₃ ⸢u₄⸣-[mu ša₂] (8') ana ṣal-pi DIB-iq tam-mar ki-ma-a ⸢mu⸣-[šam-ša₂ x?] (9') 10.45 šu-u₂ tam-mar ki BAR šu-u₂ 12 ⸢SAG⸣ [GAL-tu₂ A.RA₂ 12 DU-ma] (10') 2.24 9.30 SAG ṭe-ri-tu₂ A.RA₂ 9.3[0 DU-ma] (11') TA 2.24 ZI-ma

‘(7') You place the “crossing” in its path, in its middle. [The day when] (8') it passes the “crossing”, you see how long it is tak[ing ...?] (9') (Concerning) this 10;45, you see when it is halved: (0);12, the [large] width, [you multiply by (0);12, it is] (10') (0);2,24. (0);9,30, the “pinched” width, [you multiply] by (0);9,30, [it is (0);1,30,15.] (11') You subtract it from (0);2,24.’

— BM 34757 side Y 7'-11'

Genre: mathematical astronomy: procedure text
Provenance: Babylon?
Date: ca. 350-100 BCE

Ossendrijver, M. 2016, Ancient Babylonian astronomers calculated Jupiters position from the area under a time-velocity graph, Science, 351, 482-484

Cite this entry
APA (7th)
Ossendrijver, M. (2024). ṣalpu (Lemma #1088). The ZODIAC Glossary: A Cross-Cultural Glossary of Ancient Astral Science. https://zodiacglossary.github.io/lemma/1088/
Chicago (Author-Date)
Ossendrijver, M. (2024). ṣalpu (Lemma #1088). The ZODIAC Glossary: A Cross-Cultural Glossary of Ancient Astral Science. https://zodiacglossary.github.io/lemma/1088/
MLA (9th)
Ossendrijver, M. (2024). ṣalpu (Lemma #1088). The ZODIAC Glossary: A Cross-Cultural Glossary of Ancient Astral Science. https://zodiacglossary.github.io/lemma/1088/
Harvard
Ossendrijver, M. (2024) ṣalpu (Lemma #1088), The ZODIAC Glossary: A Cross-Cultural Glossary of Ancient Astral Science. Available at: https://zodiacglossary.github.io/lemma/1088/ (Accessed: February 2, 2026).
BibTeX 
@misc{zodiac1088,
	note = {[Online; accessed 2026-02-02]},
	author = {Ossendrijver, Mathieu},
	year = {2024},
	title = {ṣalpu ({Lemma} #1088)},
	url = {https://zodiacglossary.github.io/lemma/1088/},
	howpublished = {https://zodiacglossary.github.io/lemma/1088/},
}